Introduction:

A few weeks back, I ran a mystery giveaway — with part of the mystery prize being the opportunity for everyone who entered to:

“…contribute a guest post telling blog readers who your favorite character in the WALL series is, and why, and also what you hope for that character in the fourth and final book?”

Three commenters took up the guest post offer and today I bring you the first of our character features — in which Paul Weimer features Myr, aka Lady Myrathis of House Blood, aka “Lady Mouse”, who first enters the story in its most recent instalment, Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three).

Now—please do, read on!

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Character Feature: Meet Myr — the Lady Mouse

A Guest Post by Paul Weimer

The Wall of Night series by Helen Lowe has a strong focus on characters. While the center of the epic is indeed Malian (the Heir of Night), and I have been on board with her story since the first page of The Heir of Night, she is not the only character to love within the series. The widening net of characters gives a variety of perspectives and facets to inhabit her complex world.

I am a strong believer in the dictum that point of view solves, if not everything, than many things. Letting the reader see through a different character’s eyes is a way to bring a new perspective on a portion of the world, or even just a different point of view to places, characters and scenes, to give more information to the reader.

In Daughter of Blood, the third book in The Wall of Night series, author Helen Lowe boldly starts the book with a hitherto new character, one that captured my attention and interest from the start: Myr, the Lady Mouse of the House of Blood.

In a typical fantasy setting, Myr would not really be as much of an outcast as she is in the much more egalitarian world that Lowe has created. I’ve read dozens of fantasy novels where women were expected to be weak, biddable, and sitting in tower rooms spinning yarn and dreaming of the men who do the real business of manly epic fantasy.

Helen Lowe’s The Wall of Night universe features women in positions of combat, and authority, and power across the board unapologetically. Thus, in Lowe’s world, a quiet, retiring Myr in a fierce Derai house like the House of Blood is someone who is indeed an outsider, one whose own guards call weak behind her back. Someone unworthy to be even the least daughter of its Earl. Thus, her epithet, Lady Mouse.

How does an author make a retiring, shy character like Myr the Lady Mouse one of the most compelling characters in the entire series to date? It’s not an easy task, and it’s a testament to Lowe’s skill at character and plotting that her early spotlight on Myr is rewarded for readers. That early retiring character gets pushed around by everyone. She is intimidated even by the hydra emblem of her House.

It would have been easily to keep her as a cliche, or to have the interest in her waver in favor of stronger characters. However, Lowe quickly has Myr learn that she has inner strength, and has to use that inner strength, on behalf of herself, and her house, and all the Derai. Thrust into an uncomfortable and unexpected role, Myr gets to use her existing skills, and find new ones, deep within herself. She is always the Lady Mouse, but she quickly has to become more, and does become more.

The last interesting thing that Lowe does with Myr, besides the character growth under pressure that makes her so fascinating, is to make Myr, for all of her Lady Mouse mien, the intriguing and potent relationship center of a group of hitherto unknown and interesting characters in the House of Blood.

Her mostly negative relations with her father and siblings provide contrast and perspective, enough that one can see and understand their criticisms of her, once one strips away the varnish of hatred and disdain. Even as Myr dislikes her competitive and scheming family, they are humanized and portrayed through her perspective.

In addition, though, Myr’s strong positive relationships—especially with people like Ensign Taly and Commander Asantir, and the other soldiers she winds up traveling with—give her the role of being the heart of what is good in House Blood. Myr in a leadership role is something unimaginable from her opening scenes, and yet the character depth and how she grows into that position is masterful.

Growth, change, new perspectives and presenting herself as the center node of a web of  of interesting character relationships. It is no wonder to myself as a reader that I connected strongly with the Lady Mouse, Myr of House Blood.

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About Paul Weimer: 

Paul Weimer is a writer, gamer, blogger, podcaster, photographer, and ubiquitous genre enthusiast. At venues ranging from Skiffy and Fanty to SFF Audio and beyond, he can be found exploring the world of science fiction and fantasy. He can be found on his own website http://www.skyseastone.net/jvstin, on twitter @princejvstin, and many other places on the internet.

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Thank you, Paul, for a fabulous follow up to Kristen’s initial post in this mini series. 🙂

If you have questions or want to chat further with Paul about the post, please do leave a comment below.

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The next instalment in this Mystery Galore, The Wall Of Night Character Feature Series will post next Friday, 2 September   — and it’s by June Young.

To read Kristen’s first post in the series, click on:

Ser Raven — International Man Of Mystery